shelter within the crevices in the rough bark of the tree. At any
rate, the caterpillars remain in a sort of stupor until the following
spring. Then they awaken, climb up the trees or bushes, and begin
feeding upon the young leaves. They continue this until they become
full grown in May when they change to chrysalids, to emerge as the
first brood of butterflies the following month. Many of the
caterpillars make a sort of nest for themselves by spinning a web of
silk upon the under surface of the leaf and drawing together slightly
the outer edges.
As is the case with so many other butterflies that hibernate as
caterpillars, apparently the species is only partially double-brooded.
Some of the earlier caterpillars become lethargic when half grown and
remain in that condition throughout the later weeks of summer and all
through the fall and winter.
=The Tawny Emperor=
_Chlorippe clyton_
This handsome butterfly is easily distinguished from the Gray Emperor
by the general reddish color of the wings which are thickly marked
with bands and eye-spots of darker brown or black. The eye-spots are
especially marked on the hind wing, there being a row of five of these
on each hind wing in both sexes. The females are decidedly larger than
the male and generally of a distinctly lighter color.
This butterfly is a southern species found more or less abundantly
from southern New York to northern Florida and across the country to a
line drawn from Iowa to Texas. It seems to be more common in the
Mississippi Valley than in other regions and its life-history was
first thoroughly worked out in Missouri and published in one of
Riley's classic reports on the insects of that state. It has since
been studied by Edwards and others, but even now there seems to be
some uncertainty in regard to many points in its development, notably
the number of broods in different localities and the habits of the
larvae when preparing for hibernation.
The principal points in the life-history of the species may be
outlined as follows: some time in July the eggs are laid on the leaves
of hackberry in dense clusters, each of which may contain from two
hundred to five hundred eggs. These are usually deposited in two or
more layers, one upon another. A little more than a week later these
eggs hatch, each caterpillar eating through one end in a way to cut
out the rim of a tiny cap which is pushed up as the larva escapes. The
whole brood emerges at practically the same time and collects upon one
or more leaves where they begin to feed upon the succulent green
tissues. Like so many caterpillars that feed in companies each spins a
silken thread wherever it goes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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